Animal protein-containing food products, primarily meat and seafood, are commonly treated with marinades. Conventional marinades include, inter alia, salt, spices, acids, starches and gums which help extend the shelf life of marinated meat and seafood. In addition to extending shelf life, marinating meats and seafood may improve their flavor and tenderness after the marinated meat and seafood is cooked, producing an enhanced eating experience.
Additives such as phosphates have been used in the past in marinades to increase the moisture retention of marinated meats and seafood to further enhance the tenderness, juiciness and yield of the products. Unfortunately, however, the use of phosphates is unpopular because their use increases the phosphorus content of food processing plant effluents and, most importantly, because they are chemically synthesized rather than formed in nature and therefore are not “natural”.
Since consumers widely believe that natural food ingredients are healthier than chemically synthesized ingredients, the use of phosphates in foods is avoided where possible. Therefore, there is a substantial need for marinades that improve cook yield, juiciness, flavor and color in meat and seafood using only natural ingredients. The present invention makes such a marinade possible by providing the functionality of phosphates in the form of a yield additive that contains natural metabolite salts and, optionally, peptides, polypeptides, and phospholipids, all derived through fermentation of sugars.